Training and education

Driver Behavior at Rail Crossings: Cost-Effective Improvements to Increase Driver Safety at Public At-Grade Rail-Highway Crossings in California

Cooper, Douglas L.
Ragland, David R.
2007

This report examines conditions affecting vehicle-train collisions at rail crossings in California, and recommends effective countermeasures and implementation strategies. In doing so, the report helps meet California’s goal of efficiently utilizing state and federal funding available through SAFETEA-LU for increasing the safety at public atgrade rail-highway crossings.

Traffic Safety Among Latino Populations in California: Current Status and Policy Recommendations

Cooper, Jill F.
Wilder, Tammy R.
Lankina, Elena
Geyer, Judy A.
Ragland, David R.
2005

This report summarizes the information gained from two community forums held in Latino communities in California, provides an analysis of trends in injury and demographic data, and reviews best practices for increasing safety and preventing injury in Latino populations. It highlights pressing traffic safety needs and presents recommendations. It is our goal that this report will serve as a prototype for policy, enforcement and program development to address traffic safety issues for Latinos in California.

Low Income Childhood Pedestrian Injury: Understanding the Disparate Risk

Johnson, Emily S.
Geyer, Judy A.
Rai, Nirmeet
Ragland, David R.
2004

A leading cause of death and injury to children is being struck by a motor vehicle. A disproportionate number of injured child pedestrians are of low socioeconomic status. The relationship between socioeconomic status and pedestrian injury is poorly understood. The existing literature is limited by the lack of pedestrian exposure data, a common measure of risk, and a clear conceptual framework for the interaction between socioeconomic status and pedestrian injury. Another issue is the limited availability of injury data. This paper proposes a model for understanding child pedestrian...

Vehicle Occupancy and Crash Risk

Geyer, Judy A.
Ragland, David R.
2004

This study explores the association between vehicle occupancy and a driver’s risk of causing a fatal crash, not wearing a seatbelt, and using alcohol. The survey population is the set of drivers represented in the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) (years 1992 to 2002). The independent variables are driver age, driver gender, passenger age, passenger gender, and vehicle occupancy. The outcome variables are whether the driver was at fault in causing the fatal crash, whether the driver wore a seatbelt, and whether the driver had been using alcohol. For male teenager drivers, driving with...

Pre-hospital Care of Road Traffic Injuries in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Brown, Ted R.
Geyer, Judy A.
Taghavy, Azita
Mitchell, Brian P.
Ragland, David R.
2004

In many developing countries, transportation infrastructure development lags behind the tremendous growth in motorization. Road traffic injuries cause enormous morbidity and mortality worldwide, placing heavy burdens on global and national economies. Underdeveloped transportation infrastructures critical to traffic safety include roadway improvement, occupant protection laws, traffic law enforcement, and emergency medical services (EMS). Highlighting one important aspect of lagging infrastructure, this article focuses on emergency medical services. This research study offers a descriptive...

Evaluation of the California Child Passenger Safety Initiative

Cooper, Jill F.
MacLeod, Kara E.
Ragland, David R.
2004

Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of injury and fatality to children. Child restraint systems can reduce injury, and their use has been a long-time focus of policy and programmatic work. During this time, there has been a marked increase in the number of children restrained in vehicles and a steady decline in vehicle-related injuries and fatalities to children. However, data reveal that children of color, compared to white children, are at greater risk of injury in motor vehicle crashes. To address needs of “the children left behind” from safety advances, the California Child...

Impact of Pedestrian Presence on Movement of Left-Turning Vehicles: Method, Preliminary Results & Possible Use in Intersection Decision Support

Banerjee, Ipsita
Shladover, Steven E.
Misener, James A.
Chan, Ching-Yao
Ragland, David R.
2004

Warning systems are being developed for left-turning vehicles at intersections where protected left-turns are not warranted or cannot be provided, based on limitations of right of way or intersection capacity. These are meant to provide warnings to left-turning vehicles of vehicles approaching from the opposite direction, when the time to turn may be deemed unsafe. To implement these warning systems, it is necessary to estimate in near real time, the probability of conflict between the two approaching vehicles. A study is being conducted with the help of video and radar at various...

Oakland Chinatown Pedestrian Scramble: An Evaluation

Bechtel, Allyson K.
MacLeod, Kara E.
Ragland, David R.
2003

In 2002, the City of Oakland, California implemented a scramble signal, at the intersection of 8th Street and Webster Street. Scrambles are a type of traffic signal that give pedestrians exclusive access to an intersection by stopping vehicular traffic on all approaches, allowing pedestrians to cross diagonally or conventionally. The primary objective of this evaluation was to determine whether the installation of the pedestrian scramble at this location increased pedestrian safety. An analysis was conducted of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts and pedestrian violations occurring at the...

A Review of ITS-Based Pedestrian Injury Countermeasures

Bechtel, Allyson K.
Geyer, Judy A.
Ragland, David R.
2003

Crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians caused at least 4,882 deaths and about 78,000 injuries in 2001 in the United States. In recognition of these troubling statistics, many public and private institutions look to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies. Few resources are available to provide a comprehensive summary of the effectiveness of these options. This report reviews previous scientific evaluation of red light enforcement cameras, illuminated walk signal push buttons, automated pedestrian detection systems for traffic signals, flashing crosswalk lights,...

Space Syntax: An Innovative Pedestrian Volume Modeling Tool for Pedestrian Safety

Raford, Noah
Ragland, David R.
2003

This paper describes an innovative pedestrian modeling technique known as Space Syntax, which was used to create estimates of pedestrian volumes for the city of Oakland, California. These estimates were used to calculate pedestrian exposure rates and to create a Relative Risk Index for the city’s first pedestrian master plan. A major challenge facing planners, transportation engineers, and pedestrian-safety advocates is the lack of detailed and high quality pedestrianexposure data. Exposure is defined as the rate of contact with a potentially harmful agent or event. Pedestrian exposure is...